The invention concerns a conveyor facility equipped with a frame and a flexible drive element continuously movable during operation. The drive element extends generally parallel to the surface over which the articles to be conveyed move and co-operates with control elements which rotate around rotating shafts for the direct or indirect transmission of driving force from the drive element to the articles to be moved. Each control element rotating around a rotating shaft includes at least one circumferential part extending concentrically around the rotating shaft and a second circumferential part lying at a shorter distance from the rotating shaft than the first circumferential part.
In such a conveyor facility, if an article moved along the facility comes to a stop at a particular place on the facility, the control element or elements in the proximity of the article come to rest with the second circumferential part of the control element turned toward the flexible drive element so that the flexible drive element will exercise virtually no further driving force on the article. The drive element is thereby no longer brought into driving contact with the parts to be driven by the driving element at that place.
In order to set the control element(s) in motion again after the resistance which has brought the article to a halt is removed, conveyor facilities customary hitherto include ridges fitted in the driving element which act with a jolt on the control elements to cause the elements to again rotate. This approach typically works adequately, but in certain cases the disadvantage may arise that when using this approach the control element(s) are returned to rotation from the rest state relatively slowly.